NOTEBOOK / Vanek Trips On Hurdle, Injures Knee

2000-07-15 04:00:00 PDT Sacramento -- The first day of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials had barely gotten under way when it ended for Missy Vanek.

Vanek, a junior at Cal, tripped over the sixth hurdle in the second flight of the 100 meters, the opening race of the two-day, seven-event heptathlon, sprawled head-first onto the Hornet Stadium track and lay motionless for several seconds.

Vanek, who was third in last month's heptathlon at the NCAA Championships, was carried from the track to the Trials medical facility, where she received immediate attention. Ed Miller, Vanek's coach, said she'll be taken to a hospital for X-rays and possibly an

MRI.

"The doctor thinks she has a bruised medial collateral ligament in her right knee," said Ed Miller, Vanek's coach. "She also has some numbness in her pinkie, so she also probably has a bruised elbow."

Miller said Vanek caught her left or trailing leg on the sixth hurdle, which forced her to lose her balance and crash onto the track.

Vanek, who was unavailable for comment, left the on-site medical facility in tears and was escorted by her husband, Paul.

FACELIFT: The Olympic Trials have undergone a rather stunning facelift. When fans arrived at Hornet Stadium yesterday they found all the accoutrements of major sports events like the Super Bowl or the World Series.

Among other things, there were large, air-conditioned luxury boxes along the first turn, an interactive fan park, a kids playground with inflatable slides, and a bandstand where you could hear live music. In short, we aren't in the '90s any more.

"We are working on presentation," said Craig Masback, the energetic chief executive officer of USA Track and Field. "We are stealing some things from the European meets. We want to get more entertaining in the presentation of the meets."

The results have been a rousing success up here at least. It was announced during yesterday's competition that the 10-day meet has sold out, the first time that has ever happened to the Trials. Masback sees that as vindication for what he is trying to do, but also treats the idea with caution.

"We've got to do what other sports do," he said. "But please tell us when we do things other sports shouldn't do. I think a sport like the NBA has almost gone over the top on its presentation." REYNOLDS HOPEFUL: Although former world record-holder Butch Reynolds finished last in his six-man heat in the 400-meter preliminaries -- and out of contention for an Olympic team berth in that event -- he hasn't given up hope he can make the trip to Sydney.

"I'm going to Europe (to compete) over the next couple of months, and hopefully I can show that I'm fit enough to make the (U.S.) relay team," he said. "But I've got to go to 43 (seconds in the 400)."

Reynolds' time yesterday: 47.79 MISCELLANY: Tracye Lawyer, the former Stanford star, is in second place in the heptathlon after the event's first day. Her 3,723 points from four of the heptathlon's seven events trails leader DeDee Nathan by 24 points. . . . Ex- Cal distance runner Richie Boulet ran 3:40.99 in the men's 1,500 and qualified for tomorrow's final.